IfI were to purchase a simple residential propertyin Northop mortgage fee and dispense with a survey and no conveyancing searches how much would I expect to to save on my conveyancing in Northop?

Any savings you would achieve would be limited to the Northop conveyancing searches. A property lawyer still got to do everything else - money laundering, communicating with the sellers lawyer, SDLT submission, register the title etc. You might save a bit for them not having to register a charge however it won't be a lot.

Forgive me if this question is silly but I am unexperienced as a first time buyer of a ground floor flat in Northop. Do I pick up the keys to the house on completion from my lawyer? If this is the case, I will instruct a local conveyancing solicitor in Northop?

There is no need to visit the lawyers office on the day of completion. Conveyancing lawyers for you will arrange to send the completion advance to the seller's lawyers, and once they have received this, you will be able to pick up the keys from the property Agents and move into your new home. This tends to happen between 1 and 3pm.

I happen to be the only recipient of my late mum's estate and I have everything in my name now, including the my former home in Northop. Conveyancing formalities meant that the Land Registry date was in December. I plan to dispose of the property. I understand that there is a CML six month 'rule', meaning my property ownership could be considered the same way as if I'd bought the property in December. Is the property unsalable for six months?

The CML handbook requires conveyancers to: "report to us immediately if the owner or registered proprietor has been registered for less than six months." Technically you could be caught by that. How practical a view mortgage companies take of it, depend on the bank as this requirement is primarily there to pick up on subsales or the quick reselling of properties.

I am selling my flat. I had a double glazing fitted in May 2006, but did not receive a FENSA certificate or Building Regulation Certificate. My purchaser’s mortgage company, TSB are being a right pain. The Northop solicitor who is on the TSB conveyancing panel is happy to accept ‘lack of building regulation’ insurance but TSB are requiring a building regulation certificate. Why do TSB have a conveyancing panel if they don't accept advice from them?

It is probably the case that TSB have referred the matter to their valuer. The reason why TSB may not want to accept indemnity insurance is because it does not give them any reassurance that the double glazing was correctly and safely installed. The indemnity insurance merely protects against enforcement action which is very unlikely anyway.

What can a local search tell me regarding the property we're buying in Northop?

Northop conveyancing often commences with the applying for local authority searches directly from your local Authority or via a personal search company for example PSG The local search plays an important role in many a Northop conveyancing purchase; as long as you don’t want any nasty once you have moved into your new home. The search should supply information on, amongst other things, details on planning applications applicable to the premises (whether granted or refused), building control history, any enforcement action, restrictions on permitted development, nearby road schemes, contaminated land and radon gas; in all a total of 13 subject sections.

My wife and I purchased a 4 bedroom Edwardian property in Northop. Conveyancing lawyer represented me and Skipton Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: the first freehold, another for leasehold under the matching address. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?

You need to assess the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Northop and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also check the position with your conveyancing solicitor who conducted the conveyancing.

My husband and I have had DIP from Britannia who indicated that they will lend up to £218k. At what point do I need to appoint a lawyer for conveyancing? Northop is where we plan to move to.

It would be wise to instruct a lawyer now requesting that they create a file on your behalf. This will facilitate: 1) the selling agent to send out the Sales Memo to the relevant parties 2) the seller’s lawyer to submit the draft paperwork. That being said, do not instruct your property lawyer to start searches until you receive your valuation report from Britannia and you are willing to proceed.